close a little distance
by Megan-Lynn
Summary: Pam is inspired to make a change with her and Jim.


This is set in early season 4, probably between 4.04 and 4.08.

***

They get a new temp in the office. She's young, 23 Pam thinks she hears, and her name's Sarah. She's taller than Pam, not by much, with light brown hair, quiet, kind of dull in all sincerity. But Michael takes a liking to her because of her youth and decides to put a desk back where it was.

Sarah now sits where Jim did when he returned to Scranton. She's always finding something to work on, but Pam can see she plays solitaire sometimes. Not often, because Pam can also see she's pretty awful at it.

The first week she's there, Pam befriends her. She learns where Sarah grew up (Florida), why she moved (she always loathed the weather), what she really wants to do with her life (write novels, it then took a few extra days to find out she wanted to write _non-fiction _novels) and how she came to be a temp (honestly, by accident).

It's the second week that she's been there when Pam finally notices. Sarah wears a ring.

Pam's not really sure how to approach it, but she's too curious not to know. Jim teases her and tells her to mind her own business.

So it's at lunch, the two girls in the break room alone, that Pam asks -

"So, when did you get married?"

Sarah kind of looks at her wide-eyed for a few seconds before answering seven months.

Pam shakes her head a little.

"You're so young. How did you know that it'd…" she trails off, not really knowing where she was going with the question.

"I'm…not sure I know what you mean."

Pam blushes and ducks her head. She wasn't trying to sound rude or condescending.

Sarah takes a moment. It's not like she _never _expected someone to ask.

"I've known Aaron for two and a half years. We've been dating for nearly as long. A couple months ago, we're driving to dinner when he says that we should just go for it, that we should get married."

Sarah smiles, thinking about it.

"I tell him he's nuts and he tells me that it could possibly be one of the biggest mistakes we ever make, but it'd be the greatest." She laughs a little, her shoulders bobbing. "Somehow, he sold me on the idea."

Pam grins as the story was being told. She thinks a moment about Roy. And then thinks of something better.

"Was it a pain to plan?"

Sarah jerks herself out of her memory. "Oh, the next few days we argued over whose car to take, choosing mine, and drove to city hall. We eloped."

Pam nods and says, "No time to waste, huh?" Sarah agrees.

***********

Jim sees Pam coming out of the kitchen alone. She took lunch early with the new temp, Sarah, that day, having bonded with the younger girl. He smiled, liking that she could make an honest friend here.

As she passes by him while moving towards reception, she lets her fingers run along his shoulders, smiling at him by just turning her head. She settles in at her desk, still smiling and looks up at him, he grins back.

It was a really nice day.

It was even better when it came time to leave for the day. Having gotten stuck on the phone with a customer, Jim saw it was just him, Pam and Dwight left. Possibly Michael as well, no one ever really knows when he really leaves anymore. Dwight's taken to staying late now since he and Angela broke up. Jim doesn't have much to say or think about that.

He nods at Pam, letting her know that he's ready to go. So they gather their things and head for the elevator.

She grabs his hand and laces her fingers with his, not really looking at him, smiling to herself. Jim glances around for cameras, not seeing any but knowing they could be anywhere. He doesn't really care though. But he is mildly, and pleasantly, surprised.

They're barely out of the building when Pam gently pulls on his hand and arm to get him to stop walking towards his car. She pauses, breathes in a moment, pushing her hair out of her face.

"So, I was talk-thinking earlier. It really feels about time we moved in together." Her head is sort of nodding as she speaks and nods a little more when she finishes.

He thinks for a moment about whether Christmas came early. And then he feels weird to have thought that and then he thinks it doesn't matter. He shakes his head, almost laughing silently to himself and then looks up, seeing Pam staring at him.

"You really think we should?"

She tentatively smiles at him, saying softly, "Yeah. It's been a few months, if we weren't going to work out, we'd be over now," she pauses. "It'd be a pretty great step, wouldn't it?"

He pulls her to him, rubbing her arms softly.

"You bet."


End file.
